The Edges of the Earth in Ancient Thought
, by Romm, James S.Note: Supplemental materials are not guaranteed with Rental or Used book purchases.
- ISBN: 9780691037882 | 0691037884
- Cover: Paperback
- Copyright: 9/19/1994
For the Greeks and Romans the earth's farthest perimeter was a realm radically different from what they perceived as central and human. The alien qualities of these "edges of the earth" became the basis of a literary tradition that endured throughout antiquity and into the Renaissance, despite the growing challenges of emerging scientific perspectives. Here James Romm surveys this tradition, revealing that the Greeks, and to a somewhat lesser extent the Romans, saw geography not as a branch of physical science but as an important literary genre.